Winter Hopes
by acesfirefist
Summary: My take on Law and Bepo's first meeting, with a lot of headcanons in what actually happened in his time with Donflamingo. Warning: There's child and animal abuse. Trafalgar Law. One Shot. Angst as hell.


**A/N: So this was the product of three long days of work. I really, actually like it quite a lot. But be warned, ****_there is child and animal abuse_**** in this. **

**As always I don't own anything but the words.**

The snows of the North Blue were something no man truly got used to. Sure, you could grow accustom to the cold winds and freezing waters, but it was inhuman for one to be able to stand it for more than a couple hours at a time. The constantly falling snow gave more of an ominous feel than one would think, given the holiday's that were so laced together with the white substance. It would just keep coming, and coming and coming. The boy had counted the days when he was younger, hoping; silently wishing that maybe that snow would stop, and the sun would peak. Not to have a nice day to play outside and bask in the radiant stars warmth. No, those dreams were far over.

He wanted it to stop so _he could escape._

It was a silly hope, and an even sillier thought. He'd been in this facility for as long as he could remember, taking whatever was given to him, being forced to hone certain skills. He'd seen many people die, some of them friends, some people he didn't even know. But he recalled the first of many deaths all too well. For how could he ever forget the shrieking call of his mother being sliced into pieces? Oh yes, recalled that night all too well. The way the snow drifted into the house from the porch, his mother's pleads, the soundless cuts as that piercing cry rang through the village. But most importantly, he remembered what land him where he was today-the kidnapping.

But that all seemed so long ago to him. He was so young; so vulnerable. But naive he was not. No, Trafalgar Law was anything but naive. Still, the feeling of Vergo's arms crushing his tiny body while he called out for his mother was something he'd never forget.

That was nearly six years ago. He had endured the beatings and torture for six. Long. Years, and he'd be damned if he'd suffer one more. This is why he silently hoped and prayed the snow would stop- so as to get his one change at escaping without having the looming treat of dying from frostbite over his head.

But that wasn't happening. The snow kept falling, the beatings got worse; some to the point where he was left nothing but an unconscious bloody mess, not even wincing at the strikes of bamboo against his skin. The latest of them had left him with several cuts, one of which had to be bandaged in such a way that his left eye had to be covered. Leaving him with nothing but his right to guide him through the snows before him.

He had given up hope on that one sunny day, and decided freezing to death was certainly better than dealing with anything Vergo could inflict on him. He was tired of being sore and bleeding. All Law wanted to do was go home and sleep.

Sleep this horrible nightmare off and wake up as if nothing ever happened.

He was snapped out of his thoughts by the sound of feet against the snow. Of course his first instinct was that they were his own echoing, but once he had stopped completely, they were still there.

_Crunch. Crunch. Crunch._

What if it was Donflamingo and Vergo?

_Crunch._

What would they do if they found out his plans of escaping?

_Crunch, crunch, crunch._

It was getting louder and louder, and with it, Law's tiny heart started to race. He was still a nine year old, of course, and the thought of being caught in the snow was something he didn't want.

_Crunch. Snap! _

"Emmahhawacckk." It was the sound of an animal in pain, he knew that, and it caused him to turn. That crunching noise was the looming abuser he had seen so many times, but a baby polar bear with his leg caught in a trap.

Law narrowed his tired eyes at the animal, taking in the sight before him. The entirety of the snow around him was tinted with a deep red, and more was pouring out by the second. If he didn't act quickly, the animal would end up passing out from blood lost and then eventually dying from frostbite.

"Don't worry..." He started catching the bears attention as he neared the wounded creature. The fear in its eyes was something he knew all too well, but that wouldn't stop him from saving this animal's life.

It took all the strength he had, but when he had finally pried open the steel trap, the animal nearly went into a defensive stance. Which, given it's bad shape, wasn' really all that intimating. It let loose a soft growl, snout down on the ground.

"I'm not going to hurt you...alright? Just let me treat that wound...See here?" He opened the bag at his side, causing the bear to jump in instincts. Of course he ad come prepared, with all the doctoring supplies he could gather without causing too much suspicion. He showed the contents of it to the animal, and he returned it with a shifty look of his eyes.

But regardless, he plopped his butt down and held out the paw, as if he could understand just what Law wanted to do. Silently, the young doctor went to word, and within a couple minutes the wound had been stitched and patched up, leaving no trace of red on it's white fur. The polar bear, happy with gratitude snuggled next to the boy, curling up next to his side. Now Law had never been one to smile at something small, but this...this was more than worthy of a wide child-like grin.

"Little cozy, aren't we?"

Everything froze. All of this fears came rushing forward at the sound of that familiar voice. His breathing hitched and as the warmth from the animal left him, he turned to see Vergo looming over him, a displeased look on his face.

"V-Vergo-san..."

"Can it." It was short, and aggitated as the older man looked over the squealing polar bear in his arms. "Troublesome little thing isn't he. What's this?..." His eyes locked onto the bandaged foot, then shot to Law, "Not only are you out where you're not supposed to be, but you wasted prescious medical supplied to heal this...runt?" He should have expected what came next. It had happened so many time before, and by this point, Law had grown accustomed to it. But what Vergo's foot hit wasn't his stomach...no, it was something much worse. As the cry of the polar bear rang through his ears once more, he literally felt his heart sink. There, laying in front of him was the heap of broken bones and blood drenched fur.

He stepped in front of the bear, hands out stretched in a protective manner."S-Stop it! He didn't...He didn't do anything!"

This had earned him a swift kick in the stomach, and an even worse punch to his left eye. The escalating pain was only getting worse, and as another kick was administered to his rib cage, he could feel the bones shattering right then and there. But he wouldn't let him hurt this animal any more. He stumbled forward, the blood spatting out of his mouth and onto the white snow before him. "I won't l-l-let you hurt..him."

"Defiance?" Was the only thing spoken as Vergo's powerful foot rose and stomped down onto the boy's hand, shattering all of the bones it made contact with. As Law screamed out in pain, he shot Vergo a teary eyed look.

"I won't..."

"..." The older male narrowed his eyes before turning on his heel. He could barely make it out, but the crunches of his feet in the snow were there, along with his last words, "Come on. And bring your stupid ass pet with you. We have things to do."

By things, Law knew what he meant. There was a price to pay for having this polar bear become him, and he would pay it without so much as a whimper. He picked up the shivering bear, despite the pain in his hand, giving it a small smile.

"Don't worry, it'll be alright..." He took a deep breath, shivering with the next cold wind, "It'll all be alright, _Bepo_."


End file.
